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> I just spent about three weeks bootstrapping a SaaS as a solo founder. For context, you can read my description of it here, and I’ve talked about the inspirat

by cl42 6y ago

> I just spent about three weeks bootstrapping a SaaS as a solo founder. For context, you can read my description of it here, and I’ve talked about the inspiration behind it and motivations here and here. ... wow, that's crazy fast. I'd argue you didn't validate anything with that time frame. It takes months to build a reputation or awareness around a product to give people time to make a decision. As SaaStr says, give your product/startup TWO YEARS.[1] Three weeks isn't enough time to even pretend you're bootstrapping. That's a vacation from work... > The basic concept was solid: provide an insanely simple way for business intelligence consultants to manage project data. ... ESPECIALLY IN B2B. --- [1] https://www.saastr.com/if-youre-going-to-do-a-saas-start-up-you-have-to-give-it-24-months/ https://www.saastr.com/if-youre-going-to-do-a-saas-start-up-...

elliotbnvl 6y ago
Hmm, not sure on this. If the problem is solving is big enough, I would think people would bite as soon as they're able to validate the software solves their problem. Check out how Jason Cohen founded WP Engine as a counterpoint. I mean, perhaps ALL of software is so saturated there are no places where this can happen, but I'd rather spend a couple of years discovering that then spend a couple of years learning that one solution I tried to sell isn't valid.
- cl42 6y ago
  I'm not saying it's impossible; just because it might have worked for Jason Cohen doesn't mean you should expect such a short timeframe to work for you. That was also his 4th startup, I believe... As Jason says in his interviews, if it were that easy, then we'd all have 1000 customers and bootstrapped startups.
  - elliotbnvl 6y ago
    Conversely, because it probably won't work, is that a good reason not to try? Given the asymmetrical nature of the risk (three weeks is not a huge chunk out of my life, unlike three years I spent on a previous startup), it seems like a reasonable investment. If it does work, the payoff is worth the risk imo. Or at least, it was in this case -- which is why I took the risk.
    - a13n 6y ago
      While drastically decreasing the amount of risk you take, you're also drastically decreasing the likelihood of success.
      - elliotbnvl 6y ago
        Generally speaking, I agree... but does it really apply here? Wouldn't I be taking a risk in not taking a risk, thus decreasing the likelihood of success... which should then increase the likelihood of success? I only say this for the sake of argument and I think there's something wrong with this logic, but for the life of me I can't find it.
        cl42 6y ago
        I think the point he’s making is that you didn’t take enough time to validate either way. If you do this with every idea you can launch and shut down 12 companies a year and not give any one a real chance of validation.
- abakker 6y ago
  So, I'm a consultant, and the primary research lead at our company. My buying cycle is longer than your software has existed. I like the idea of the tool, but, I never heard about it. You didn't find me and tell me about it, none of my peers told me about it, etc. I DO go out looking for software to make my life easier, but, I don't do it every day or even every month. Just keep selling it, it takes time.
- polote 6y ago
  sorry, but lol, you are a bit too arrogant, you seem to know everything on how to build a company, and have all answers while still -writing- a post about failing at it. You should listen a bit more to advice if you want to improve and be more successful
- Saaster 6y ago
  A primary driver of SaaS sales is trust. Nobody wants to bet on a platform that is going to pivot or shut down within 12 months. It's not about price, it's about disruption to business in both adopting and offboarding from any solution more complex than a todo list. For a lot of established companies, that unfortunately means they won't even consider you until you've been around for 1-2 years. We have a lot of customers who checked us out on day 1, and now 3-4 years later are coming back saying "Cool, you guys are still in business, now we can try you out for real". If you're building SaaS, go ahead and take that SaaStr article as gospel (and a lot of their other writing as well). Maybe you're a special unicorn where it doesn't apply, but most likely you aren't.
a13n 6y ago
This advice is correct. It took us 18 months to make our first dollar and then another 10 months to hit $2k MRR. Now we're north of $800k ARR. (bootstrapped, 2 first-time founders) Time frames of "three weeks" and "two months" are unrealistically quick, and might cause you to give up before you even give your startup a real chance. Mayyyybe you can hit these milestones if: - You've built a successful SaaS company before, and deeply understand product, sales, marketing, pricing, etc - You start out with a validated product + market, so you have a high chance of hitting product market fit quickly - You have a team and can work on building product + acquiring users simultaneously But for a first-time solo-founder, this is just so unrealistic.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- winrid 6y ago
  Wow! First off, congrats. Second - makes me feel good. Started in Dec and have around a dozen paying customers now. You give me hope!
- justanotherc 6y ago
  Thanks for sharing, that's encouraging for us. We spent 1.3 yrs building our software, and it took us 8 months to get our first paying customer (we did a lot of long free trials/beta users), and after 1yr since launch we're up to ~$2k MRR, so not far off from you. Seems like we're going at a snail's pace but I guess maybe that's par for the course.
clairity 6y ago
(pricing) validation is a step-wise process, not a single binary outcome. you can validate initial unit economics pretty quickly, on the order of days/weeks depending on the market dynamics. you keep experimenting and validating as you grow. yc is basically premised on this being true.
- elliotbnvl 6y ago
  I'm glad you said this -- I think a lot of people are missing that that's what this foray was intended to do -- validate initial unit economics. I'm sure dialing in pricing / market will improve pricing a LOT, but it also seems logical that those improvements will be a multiple of the initial unit economics to some degree.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

by cl42 6y ago

elliotbnvl 6y ago

Hmm, not sure on this. If the problem is solving is big enough, I would think people would bite as soon as they're able to validate the software solves their problem. Check out how Jason Cohen founded WP Engine as a counterpoint. I mean, perhaps ALL of software is so saturated there are no places where this can happen, but I'd rather spend a couple of years discovering that then spend a couple of years learning that one solution I tried to sell isn't valid.

cl42 6y ago
I'm not saying it's impossible; just because it might have worked for Jason Cohen doesn't mean you should expect such a short timeframe to work for you. That was also his 4th startup, I believe... As Jason says in his interviews, if it were that easy, then we'd all have 1000 customers and bootstrapped startups.
- elliotbnvl 6y ago
  Conversely, because it probably won't work, is that a good reason not to try? Given the asymmetrical nature of the risk (three weeks is not a huge chunk out of my life, unlike three years I spent on a previous startup), it seems like a reasonable investment. If it does work, the payoff is worth the risk imo. Or at least, it was in this case -- which is why I took the risk.
  - a13n 6y ago
    While drastically decreasing the amount of risk you take, you're also drastically decreasing the likelihood of success.
    - elliotbnvl 6y ago
      Generally speaking, I agree... but does it really apply here? Wouldn't I be taking a risk in not taking a risk, thus decreasing the likelihood of success... which should then increase the likelihood of success? I only say this for the sake of argument and I think there's something wrong with this logic, but for the life of me I can't find it.
      - cl42 6y ago
        I think the point he’s making is that you didn’t take enough time to validate either way. If you do this with every idea you can launch and shut down 12 companies a year and not give any one a real chance of validation.
abakker 6y ago
So, I'm a consultant, and the primary research lead at our company. My buying cycle is longer than your software has existed. I like the idea of the tool, but, I never heard about it. You didn't find me and tell me about it, none of my peers told me about it, etc. I DO go out looking for software to make my life easier, but, I don't do it every day or even every month. Just keep selling it, it takes time.
polote 6y ago
sorry, but lol, you are a bit too arrogant, you seem to know everything on how to build a company, and have all answers while still -writing- a post about failing at it. You should listen a bit more to advice if you want to improve and be more successful
Saaster 6y ago
A primary driver of SaaS sales is trust. Nobody wants to bet on a platform that is going to pivot or shut down within 12 months. It's not about price, it's about disruption to business in both adopting and offboarding from any solution more complex than a todo list. For a lot of established companies, that unfortunately means they won't even consider you until you've been around for 1-2 years. We have a lot of customers who checked us out on day 1, and now 3-4 years later are coming back saying "Cool, you guys are still in business, now we can try you out for real". If you're building SaaS, go ahead and take that SaaStr article as gospel (and a lot of their other writing as well). Maybe you're a special unicorn where it doesn't apply, but most likely you aren't.

a13n 6y ago

This advice is correct. It took us 18 months to make our first dollar and then another 10 months to hit $2k MRR. Now we're north of $800k ARR. (bootstrapped, 2 first-time founders) Time frames of "three weeks" and "two months" are unrealistically quick, and might cause you to give up before you even give your startup a real chance. Mayyyybe you can hit these milestones if: - You've built a successful SaaS company before, and deeply understand product, sales, marketing, pricing, etc - You start out with a validated product + market, so you have a high chance of hitting product market fit quickly - You have a team and can work on building product + acquiring users simultaneously But for a first-time solo-founder, this is just so unrealistic.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
winrid 6y ago
Wow! First off, congrats. Second - makes me feel good. Started in Dec and have around a dozen paying customers now. You give me hope!
justanotherc 6y ago
Thanks for sharing, that's encouraging for us. We spent 1.3 yrs building our software, and it took us 8 months to get our first paying customer (we did a lot of long free trials/beta users), and after 1yr since launch we're up to ~$2k MRR, so not far off from you. Seems like we're going at a snail's pace but I guess maybe that's par for the course.

clairity 6y ago

(pricing) validation is a step-wise process, not a single binary outcome. you can validate initial unit economics pretty quickly, on the order of days/weeks depending on the market dynamics. you keep experimenting and validating as you grow. yc is basically premised on this being true.

elliotbnvl 6y ago
I'm glad you said this -- I think a lot of people are missing that that's what this foray was intended to do -- validate initial unit economics. I'm sure dialing in pricing / market will improve pricing a LOT, but it also seems logical that those improvements will be a multiple of the initial unit economics to some degree.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]